A Sunshine State Of Mind

The upside to yesterday’s long, windy day on the road – other than it now being over – is that today had the potential to be a relatively easy day. Having done 120 km into the wind yesterday, I was now left with less than 60 km to get to Medicine Hat – the first big city since Moose Jaw and, as far as I can tell, the last big city before Calgary.

My night at the Alberta Welcome Centre was peaceful (considering I was about 100 metres from the highway) and I woke to a sunny and calm morning. Actually, there were some signs that I might enjoy a partial tailwind today.

My biggest concern of the morning though was breakfast. Or lack thereof. As I mentioned yesterday, the lone restaurant in Walsh doesn’t actually exist which meant I was left with a not-so-great selection of gas station sandwiches from which to choose. I ended up with a “ham” and “cheese” sandwich and, I’m not going to lie, it’s not the best breakfast I’ve ever had. It could in fact be the worst … although, the overly microwaved “egg” sandwich in Nipigon, ON was pretty awful.

Fortunately, I only needed enough calories to get me 60 km down the road and this “ham” sandwich would probably be good for about 20 km. In actual fact, it was good for about 40 km.

Today’s ride was quite the opposite of yesterday’s experience. I didn’t have the joys of a strong tailwind but the winds were generally mild and had little impact on my progress. The long, gradual climbs out of Saskatchewan were once again replaced with incredibly flat roads. And nicely paved roads too. I’ve heard that Alberta’s roads are the best in the country. So far, it would be hard to argue that. For eastbound cyclists, they must love Alberta right now – lots of tailwinds and freshly paved highways. The westbound lanes aren’t freshly paved, but they’re still in great shape.

I rolled into Medicine Hat around noon and proceeded directly to the Tourist Information Centre. Actually, I planned to proceed directly to Tim Hortons but I kind of missed the exit and figured there would be another one along the highway. There wasn’t.

The people at the Information Centre were great. Very friendly. And very helpful. Plus, I was told that the best burgers in town can be had at Athletic Park, home of the Medicine Hat Mavericks baseball club. There isn’t a game tonight, or even tomorrow, but since I have some work to do I think I’ll stick around and go to the game Wednesday night. Play ball!

Side note: Did you know Medicine Hat gets 330 days of sunshine every year. It’s true. I have a pack of gum that says so … courtesy of the Tourist Information Centre. I also discovered that there are quite a few things to see in Alberta so I’m seriously considering altering my non-existent schedule to spend some time exploring Alberta.

After investigating some of Alberta’s sightseeing options, I spent much of the afternoon at a picnic table beside the Medicine Hat Tourist Information Centre (and tonight’s probable camping site).  The wind was blowing fairly strongly again but that’s hardly news.  The bulk of my riding was finished for the day so the wind could do whatever it likes – then again, it always does. But hopefully blowing a tree onto my tent won’t be on the agenda.  The sun was shining and there were little prairie dogs (ie. rodents, but cute rodents) running amok.  As days go, this was turning out to be a pretty good one.

It got better when I received a text from Eric and Jordon who I first met back in White River, ON but hadn’t seen in over 1,500 km – partially because Jordon was hit by a transport truck near Virden, MB and was off the road for a while. No, I’m not kidding. Considering how unlucky that is, he’s very lucky to be alive – and it’s great that they’re still able to continue their trip to Vancouver. And yes, I intentionally waited until I was well out of Manitoba before mentioning this incident. The important part is that it ended well.

Between some off days on my part and some aggressively long days on their part, they caught up with me and we met at Perkins in Medicine Hat where we enjoyed dinner and $3.50 beers. A good way to end the day.

Actually, the day ended back at the Tourist Information Centre where the three of us set up our tents and camped for the night. Officially, we’re not really supposed to be here. Unofficially, well … apparently no one checks on such things. If things work out, I might just camp here again tomorrow night too – although, maybe I shouldn’t put that in this update.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 58.64 km
Ride time: 2:30:22
Average speed: 23.40 km/h
Maximum speed: 39.44 km/h